Monthly Newsletter

Our Club Dinner is on the 1st Thursday of this month, December 7, 2006 at 6:30 PM

Jim Barry talks on Classical Greek Coins

2006 Club Meeting Schedule - 2 nd Thursdays at 7 PM

June 8, July 13, Aug. 10, Sep 14,

Oct. 12 Nov. 9, Dinner Meeting, Dec 7

Jim Barry’s Program on Greek Treasures, a Delight

At the Nov. 9 meeting of the Stephen James CSRA
Coin Club, Vice President Jim Barry presented a slide program
on Treasures of Ancient Greek Coinage. He described the talk
as an overview while tying it in with the Greek influence on
Roman, English and US coinage. Using a map of Europe and
the Mediterranean region, Jim showed the vast region of
Classical Greece’s cultural and political influence beginning
from around 550 BC to the around 50 BC at the time the Roman
empire of Julius Caesar was attaining full grandeur.

Many of the coins displayed figures in high relief akin
to tiny circular pieces of sculptured gems. The earliest example
displayed a sea turtle with reverse punch that was probably
struck around 540 BC. As technology progressed, so did the art
of the engraver. Jim showed a variety of coin denominations
that included the gold stater and silver pieces from the half
drachma to the Tetradrachm ; the latter, a large thick coin
between the size of our quarter and half dollar. Motifs shown on
these coins included animals such as the aforementioned turtle,
bees, owls, lions and horses, etc. Other examples displayed
portraits of the Greek gods, Zeus, Hera, Athena, Apollo, et al
and important emperors and military leaders such as Alexander,
the Great. Coins of soldiers in battle were depicted as well. .
The club wishes to thank Jim for his presentation.

Dinner meeting at EE-Jays Restaurant December 7

The club’s sixth annual pre holiday Christmas dinner
party will take place at EE-Jay’s Restaurant on December 7
starting around 6:30 PM Cash Bar with dinner to follow at 7:00

PM. [There will be no regular meeting on the second Thursday in
December.] The choice of entree’s includes Prime Rib, Chicken
Monterey and Fried or Broiled Shrimp. As with past holiday
events there will be quite a few prizes to go around. Look
forward to seeing many of you there.

Early Latin American Republican Coinage,
Part II: Central American Republic by Arno Safran

An 1824 8 Reales of the Central American Republic

In 1821, the five provinces south of the Mexican
border known today as Central America were declared
independent by the governing Captaincy General. In 1822,
Mexico’s self proclaimed Emperor Augustin Iturbide I invited
these provinces to become part of his federation but El Salvador
refused opting instead to become a part of the United States.
Iturbide decided to use more persuasive measures, sending an
army led by the military governor of Guatemala, Vicente
Filisola to invade the tiny province, but before El Salvador
could be absorbed, Iturbide was ousted. Filisola reconvened the
General Assembly which established a loosely confederated
democratic state to be known as the Central American Republic.
It consisted of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua
and Costa Rica. (Panama was still part of Colombia, South America)

In 1824 the C.A.R. began producing its first silver and
gold coins which were struck at the New Guatemala Mint,
(Guatemala City today.). For many collectors, the obverse of the
dollar sized 8 Reales silver coin showing a rising sun to the left
of five volcanoes—its rays extending outward—represents one of
the more beautiful designs among world type coins. The
surrounding legend is inscribed republica del CENTRO DE
AMERICA. The reverse featured a Ceiba tree with the motto,
LIBRE CRESCA fecundo, (Liberty increases fertility or growth).

(Club News continues on page 4, column 1)

(Continued on page 2, column 1)

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VoL 5, No. 12 The Stephen James CSRA Coin Club of Aiken, SC Monthly Newsletter _ December, 2006

The Coinage of the Central American Republic (1824-50)

(Continued from Page 1, column 2)

An 1850 CAR 2 Escudo struck at the Costa Rica Mint
(From the author’s collection)

With a reported mintage of just 7,432, this is
considered the most common date for type.

Unlike the USA, the CAR never even achieved the
status of a unified government similar to that produced by of our
own Articles of Confederation, let alone the Continental
Congress after the Revolution. Religious and class strife
continually undermined the process finally erupting into a full
scale civil war in 1827 with the result that by 1839, the Republic
ceased to exit. Despite this, coins from the region would
continue to be struck bearing the sun and mountains and Ceiba
tree in various denominations through 1850 with the same
legend and motto.

The denominations issued during this 27 year period
consisted of five silver coins and five gold pieces and were not
issued in every year or from one mint. The silver coins included
the 8R, 2R, 1R, UR and tiny UR. No 4 Reales were struck. The
8’s are the most numerous with the 1824 being by far the most
common. They are moderately priced up thru AU. The coin
enjoyed legal tender status here in the USA from 1834 thru
1857. The other silver issues are another matter as far as the
collector is concerned. Apparently hoards of the tiny UR exist in
brilliant uncirculated condition and the 1 Real pieces can be
found in problem-free circulated grades but the U Real, showing
only three volcanoes because of its small size is quite scarce in
all grades and the 2 Reales —equal to our quarter-dollar—are rarer
still. Of the supposedly collectible dates for this issue; all struck
at the Tegucigalpa Mint in Honduras, only the 1831 surfaces
from time to time and even then, in low grades or flawed.

An 1831 CAR 2 Reales struck at the Tegucigalpa Mint in Honduras
from the author’s collection. Notice the flan flaw as struck
between 12:00 and 1:00 on the obverse. Despite this, the specimen
is the highest grade example the writer has seen.

The five gold coins struck were the 8 Escudos , 4E, 2E,
IE and UE. The design was similar with the difference that the
sun was centered above the volcanoes, its rays pointed
downward as shown above. The 8E’s are around for a price but
the 4E’s are quite scarce and expensive. Collectors can still
obtain the UE, IE and 2E at reasonable prices up to AU. True
uncirculated specimens are pricey.

The fineness of the 8 Reales silver issues varied from a
high of .903 to a low of .870 weighing between 415 and 416
grains and was considered the least reliable from the USA
assayer’s point of view of any of the foreign legal tender coins
accepted. Not too many of these pieces circulated here but
enough were seen for the US government assayers to consider
seriously. The 1 Real was worth 12U0; the UR, 6U0 but the
latter probably was accepted at just 50 (at a silver half dime value)
assuming one actually surfaced in the early 19 th century USA.
As for the tiny UR, displaying only one volcano, there are no
known reports of any actually trading here at the time foreign
silver was legal tender in the United States. The coinage of this
short-lived Confederation is somewhat challenging to assemble
but worth of the effort as it combines history, beauty and rarity.

A five piece CAR silver denomination set
from the author’s collection. Magnify up to 200% to see details.

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VoL 5, No. 12 The Stephen James CSRA Coin Club of Aiken, SC Monthly Newsletter _ December, 2006

TRESORERIE DE NOUMEA

By Bill Myers

CALEDONIE

NQUVELLE

TRESQKERIF. DE NOUMEA

••£3’ UN - ( t

, . FRANC

UTfrwfcr-pjywf,

K' 09852

Noumea

It HjUrfiti t'Jrtr

A 1942 New Caledonia 1 franc note face atop back
From the author’s collection

To me, part of being a numismatist is defining a
collection and setting out to complete it. There is something
about a numismatist that they want one of each type or variety
that defines a collection. This is much more then an
accumulation or investment, it is a goal and an accomplishment.
Amo Safran’s articles and talks have clearly shown the
satisfaction of pursuing a collection. You do not have to be
wealthy to accomplish this task; you just need time, knowledge
and persistence. My advice is to pick an area that interests you,
that has defined limits, is obtainable and is within your
economic means.

island and establish an Allied base. The sudden influx of troops
stressed the local economy and the circulating currency
available was inadequate. One part of the solution was to print
local emergency notes. The notes were printed by the
“Treasorerie de Noumea” in denominations of 50 centimes and
1, 2, 5 & 20 francs. The 50 centimes has two varieties, one with
the issue date of 15 July 1942 and one dated 29 March 1943.
The 1 and 2 francs notes have notes with the same issue dates
but the 29 March 1943 has thick and thin number varieties. The
5 francs note has only one type, issued 15 June 1943. The 20
francs note has one with issue date of 30 April 1943, and the
other simply dated 1943 with “Deuxieme Emission” added on
the back. The number of notes issued ranged from 50,000 to
400,000 and the catalog cost in “fine” is from $5-50.
Completing this collection would consist of eleven notes and
they were obtainable and at a reasonable cost. The hunt was on.

CAtgDONI.S.

NQUVELLE

TR6SORER1E DE NOUMEA

FRANC

li Trfierief-Pljiw,

Noumea

HI u

1 1
srjssirs ,

j ««1 * »SWIIWTl 1

• *ut m oaj

I

tr£sor V I

If.

NOUMEA

My interest started when I was at a coin show and saw
a New Caledonia 2 franc note. It was 110 X 70 mm and was
simply printed. The face of the note had a crane loading a ship
on the left and a mining scene on the right. On the back of the
note were a stag and the Cross of Lorraine. My father had
served in New Caledonia during World War II,
but unfortunately he did not bring back any numismatic
souvenirs from his tour in New Caledonia. I found the note of
interest and so I shelled out $5 for the note. Needless to say, my
curiosity led me to research my latest acquisition. New
Caledonia is a group of Islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean.
It was discovered by Captain Cook in 1774 and occupied by
France in 1853. The islands are rich in minerals, especially
nickel. During World War II France signed an armistice with
Germany 22 June 1940. New Caledonia joined the Free French
cause in September 1940 rather then become part of Vichy
government (occupied France). An American expeditionary
force arrived in New Caledonia 10 March 1942 to protect the

A 1943 New Caledonia 1 franc note from the author’s collection

I purchased notes from mail-order catalogs as well as
dealers stock at coin shows. I did not obtain any through on-line
auctions (e.g. E-Bay) but certainly that is an available avenue
for collectors. The last two notes were obtained from a fellow
numismatist that was aware of what I was looking for and found
them for me just before I left for Iraq. I found that letting your
fellow collectors know what your interests are can greatly
expand your search area. It took about a year and a half to
obtain all eleven notes and at the total cost of $86, with a range
of from $4-20 for each note. The collection will never escalate
significantly in value but I have an interesting piece of history
and a sense of accomplishment. Now I can direct my attention
to other collections as I am always working on several
simultaneously. To me this is a significant part of why
numismatics interests me.

Thanks, Bill for another interesting article, Bill hopes to return in March, ’07
(Ed.)

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VoL 5, No. 12 The Stephen James CSRA Coin Club of Aiken, SC Monthly Newsletter _ December, 2006

More Club News

(Continued from page 1, column 1)

There were 21 members and one guest in attendance at
the Nov. 9 meeting. President Willie Simon again urged
members to submit articles and free ads to the club newsletter.
There was a brief discussion on the show and some members
discussed the possibility of enlarging the event to a two day
affair similar to the Augusta club. One of the difficulties has to
do with obtaining a facility that allows overnight security which
the Odell Weeks Activity Center is unable to provide. The next
coin show has been penciled in for Saturday, September 17 at
Odell Weeks. With President Simon’s support and with a
promise of more help, JJ Engel will carry on as Bourse chair for
another year.

Winner of the silver eagle door prize was new member
Mike Dodson. The 50/50 winner was Willie Simon.
Congratulations gentlemen. As our next meeting is the special
pre-holiday dinner affair at EE-Jay’s, President Willie Simon
wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving, and for those unable to
attend the dinner, a very Merry Christmas and Happy New
Years in advance. Our next regularly scheduled meeting will fall
on Thursday, January 11, 2007 at the Cedar Creek Activity
Center.

Give a Numismatic Gift for Christmas

Essentially, there are two types of hobby orientations:
One requires an outlay for the materials to get started while the
other by its very nature of acquisition depends on a continual
supply of discretionary funds. The hobby of Astronomy belongs
to the former camp. Once one obtains the telescope and lenses
needed for viewing, the challenge of discovery begins without
additional funds. On the other hand, any hobby involving
collecting involves the goal of completion which usually
requires a considerable number of key acquisitions. In that
respect collectors are a curious breed. They derive pleasure from
acquisition but in most instances enjoy sharing their knowledge
and discoveries with others. As such, many are willing to give
as well as receive. With the holidays approaching, the coin
collector can suggest a number of numismatic items that would
make attractive gifts from stocking fillers to personal mementos
of quality. What follows are some suggestions.

Proof Sets: These make for excellent stocking fillers and can
represent birth year sets and anniversaries. Ironically, some of
the silver sets from the late 1950’s and early 1960’s are far less
expensive than many of the more recent ones and also contain
the long obsolete Benjamin Franklin half dollar.

Silver Eagles: Many a young collector receiving one of these
has become fascinated by the series, now in its 21 st year and as
they mature, some start collecting the back dates.

Va oz Gold Eagles: For the woman you love, the size of this
coin is just about right to be housed in a pendent attached to a
gold chain to be worn as a necklace. Even with today’s gold
prices more elevated than they were a few years ago, such a gift
might receive a more elevated response.

Modern Commemoratives: If you know someone who collects
mementos of a particular famous person, event or geographical
location, check out the modem US commemorative series (1982
to date). Included are coins in clad , silver and gold coins
representative of the Olympics and other sporting events,
famous inventors, statespersons and politicians. Proof issues
often make nice gifts and many remain reasonably priced.

rfiappy. rfioLidagb everybody!

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Aiken, SC 648-1388'

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